Sunday, August 21, 2011

Meeting At Night

Without ever mentioning sex once, Robert Browning wrote one of the sexiest poems ever.  Just pay attention to the way the words sound

I


The grey sea and the long black land;


And the yellow half-moon large and low;


And the startled little waves that leap


In fiery ringlets from their sleep,


As I gain the cove with pushing prow,


And quench its speed i' the slushy sand.

II


Then a mile of warm sea-scented beach;


Three fields to cross till a farm appears;


A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch


And blue spurt of a lighted match,


And a voice less loud, thro' its joys and fears,


Than the two hearts beating each to each!

“...long black land... yellow...long and low”  is full of those sultry “l” sounds. Lust, lingerie, libido, longing, lechery, luxury, lithe, lounge, linger, ...get the idea?  You couldn’t call lingerie hingerie with the same effect.


The image is of oars making little waves in the moonlight, but doesn’t it also sound like a curly-haired red-head in bed?


Have you studied Freud? He would be all over this pushing prow gaining the cove.  The prow, he would say is a penis, but the author can’t say that because he’s too straight-laced.  If you can’t figure out what the cove is, you haven’t paid attention in Health Class..  The quenching and slushing are sex noises.  The boat rower is thinking about making love to his sweety in a reserved, Victorian way.

Of course, beaches are sexy and farms are fertile..

Admit it. The blue spurt of the lighted match sounds pretty orgasmic.  No they aren’t making love right now, but they’re anticipating it.  See my “Ode on a Grecian Urn” comments.  The moment right before the kiss is the most dramatic.

She whispers.  You could come up with a lot of reasons why she would be both joyful and fearful at this moment.  Then their hearts beat each to each. They must be next to each other.  So the lovers must be embracing. Score!